Ashton Hopper

“I literally hate to ask but my PA had the audacity to get sick and it’s like, critical that I post this look today, so like…” Trying to disguise her immense distaste for the situation with her chipper interview voice, she hesitantly held her phone out to the other person, “You wanna snap a couple really quick? I’ll tag you or whatever, or like, buy you something pretty.” @slchat​

      “Life or death huh?” He looked at Noreen like it wasn’t something he wasn’t wholeheartedly used to—been a minute sure, but here they were. Not even entirely sure the country star remembered that one or two times they’d met before—similar circles, that one time his sister did a Dusty Springfield biopic in Nashville for a good six months was an on and off home away from home. “What, Kacey Musgrave’s posting it tomorrow or something?” 

     Silver Lake sometimes felt small, constantly running into someone you know. Knew, wanted to know...so when he saw Finn up ahead talking loudly enough that he heard over the Pruis that passed by and could somewhat make out what she was saying to the random walking his tiny cat and giving a stink eye— feeling cheeky, Ashton pulled his phone out, dialing an all too familiar number he hadn’t dialed in a while...

        “Oooh—shii....” he let out as his cart smashed into the smaller guy, jumping back even slightly when it was clear there was going to be a splash of the yellow substance the guy was holding, he really didn’t want to ruin the new sneakers. “Hey, look at it this way, you just did nature a good deed. Birds’ll be happy. You uh, can keep dying out here for a sec, I’ll get ya a new one?” Was this his good deed for the day? Filing it away for his therapist session later that afternoon. 

Farmers markets were always a mix bag. Some days Danny would sell whole sets of his pottery and other days he ended up spending most of his profits from the day at the Ethiopian food vendor and on a bag of fresh kettle corn after having people touching all his work and moving on without a word. Today was proving to be an unfruitful day at the market and it was truly icing on the cake that one of his favorite mugs he made came tumbling to the concrete and shattered. An unsupervised toddler had gotten their butter fingers on it and the rest was history as their clearly embarrassed mother scooped the child from the scene and hurried away before Danny even had the opportunity to tell her he wasn’t going to make her pay for it. 

     He was trying out a new vitamin routine, a new smoothie that the ingredients proving to not be his favorite, and instead of a five AM stretching routine, opting for a later start time now that his body had been getting used to later days. Fatigue set in sometime around noon and this was when Ashton opted for a little homemade retail therapy, “All eyes, man. No touch.” Glancing around the tent’s options before seeing where the voice came from at all—forgetting what he even just said and picking up a mug.  “These yours, you make these?”     

@slchat​

    The Dungeon wasn’t his normal venture—hell he couldn’t remember the last time he was actually in here. Feeling instantly out of place and like stares were there but also could just be his self-consciousness taking hold and regretted not taking a more obvious route to attire. But when it was becoming abundantly clear the Mikayla or Michelle that he was supposed to be meeting was a no show and the bartender...or someone asked the one question necessary to defuse a more than growingly awkward situation; “Uh yeah...—” His attention was brought to the lit cigarette, immediately wanting to refer him to alternative options but...there was a time and a place— “Yeah, White Sangria. Oh, if you have it, is it vegan?” That tidbit almost escaping his mind.

Lucie stopped for a second, tightening her ponytail before bending down to re-tie the lace of her running shoes. Her normal morning run around Silver Lake Meadows had definitely taken longer than usual. Not even the Beyonce she was listening to had helped her get anywhere near her personal best. As she stood up, she contemplated whether she had time to run the route again. She couldn’t leave on this note, and it wasn’t like she really had anywhere to be, she thought. 

He thought it was his sister, Emma. Not the most fitting of settings for her but when photogs were to be avoided, Silver Lake did the trick. Anyways, he had to do a double take until he was close enough and the jagged sights were less blurred from his own attempt at ‘getting back on the pavement’ winded was a word for it, his attempt too, to startle by reaching that was quickly shot down when…well it wasn’t her. “OH— sorry, I thought you were my…doesn’t matter. Someone else…..whew. This shits hard without that—” pointing to her headphones. “Lots of clarity, that’s for sure.”

     “I—uh, muted—” He started, clearing his throat at the random assumption, confused at first but that one sole word clicking and the fact it was palpable to someone else was more enlightening than anything. “Am I? I uh...I kinda woke up and really didn’t do much of anything today and now it’s...it’s late...I’m...I guess I’m okay. Just...muted...yeah. You said it...”

“so…what do you do…if you’re like…interested in a guy but you don’t know if he’s interested in you back?”

          “You tell him.” It was pretty cut and dry, though, of course it never really was, was it? He also wasn’t Hugo, newfound friend from across the pond that seemed a tiny bit culture shocked. “Worst thing you can do is let it lay. Lie...lay...yeah.” He thought on that word usage, gave in to his choice confidently. “Never know. We as people, we just never know. Got a fifty-fifty chance that your guy’s gonna feel the same way.” 

What had intended on being a day spent inside quickly turned into errands once she realized she was running low on food. River had made a mental list of things she was going to get but as she walking down the aisles she found herself getting other things as well. She paused once she was in the cereal aisle and looked at everything she already had. “Okay I really need to stick to the essentials now.” She muttered to herself 

     There were times Ashton found himself at one of the normal grocery stores—the ones where label reading became essential and his vegan diet wasn’t catered to as a whole. This was one of those moments, Frosted Flakes now a mystery and a strange craving after a friend of a friends five year old’s halfway birthday party in the hills. “I know that feeling— we can just talk about our options. You know, fight through the cravings. Move onto the vegetable section next, after you know, we refrain.”